Before we close this branch of the subject, one word must be said concerning the transcendent power, possessed by the subjective mind, of correct deduction from given or suggested premises. Although this power differs only in degree from the corresponding faculty possessed by the objective mind, it must, for obvious reasons, be considered in connection with the other reasoning faculties. This faculty is an essential concomitant to the law of suggestion. The power of suggestion would be of little avail if the subjective mind could not correctly deduce all legitimate conclusions from the premises embraced in a suggestion. It is true that wrong or absurd suggestions will lead to wrong and absurd conclusions; but the conclusions will be logically correct whether the premises are true or false. This is inevitable from the very perfection of the faculty of deduction; but it is compensated for in many ways, for it becomes a factor of the utmost value when a correct suggestion is made. For instance, in the moral training of the subjective mind of a child, if it is punished for stealing from or lying about John Doe, the lesson that it learns is, not simply that it is wrong to injure John Doe, but that it is wrong to tell a falsehood or to appropriate the property of others. It is, however, too obvious to need illustration, that no suggestion could be intelligently carried into effect in the absence of this faculty of logical deduction.

The same faculty is possessed by animals; and, together with the power of suggestion over the animal kingdom, it constitutes the prime factor in the combination of causes which enables man to assert and maintain his dominion over the beasts of the field. A single illustration will suffice. The first step which an intelligent trainer takes in breaking a horse is to throw the animal, and hold it down until it ceases to struggle. When this is accomplished, half the battle is won; and although other means to the same end may be adopted, they all tend to demonstrate to the horse

that his trainer has absolute power and dominion over him. The rest is easy when gentle kindness and persuasion are employed to teach the animal his duties. Now, the first and most essential step named constitutes a suggestion to the animal that his trainer possesses complete mastery over him, and that it is useless to struggle against superior physical force. This suggestion, however, per se, applies only to the individual trainer; and but for the faculty of deduction, no one but the trainer could drive the animal. But the horse, from the suggestion that his trainer has power over him, deduces the conclusion that other men possess the same power. Otherwise every new driver would be obliged to rebreak the horse.

It will thus be seen that the subjective faculty of correct logical deduction from suggested premises possesses a farreaching significance, and importance in matters of everyday experience in this life. Concerning the part it may play in the mental operations incident to the life to come, it would, perhaps, be useless to speculate; although its concomitance with the faculty of intuitional perception is too obvious to require comment.

Having briefly discussed the reasoning powers of the two minds, we may now pause to take our bearings and find where we stand at this stage of the argument.

We have located and found a use for every reasoning or intuitional faculty of the two minds save one. We have found:

1. That the faculty of induction belongs exclusively to the objective mind, and hence pertains exclusively to earthly life.

2. That the faculty of intuitional perception belongs exclusively to the subjective mind.

3. That this faculty of intuitional perception performs no normal function in earthly life, as is clearly shown by reference to the facts, –

276 DEMONSTRATION OF THE FUTURE LIFE.

a. That we catch only occasional glimpses of that faculty in the subjective mind, and know with certainty of its existence only by and through abnormal means and the most intensely abnormal conditions of the objective mind and of the body.

b. That, owing to the law of suggestion, no conclusions arrived at by alleged intuitional processes can be relied upon in this life unless they are verified by objective methods of investigation.

c. That the labor incident to verification is at least equivalent to that of making an original investigation of the subject-matter.

d. It is, therefore, not only abnormal, but superfluous and worse than useless on the physical plane.

The conclusion seems irresistible that at least the purely intellectual part of the subjective entity belongs exclusively to a future existence.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE DYNAMIC FORCES OF THE MIND.

The Buddhistic Nirvana. - A purely Intellectual Existence without Memory, Emotion, or Personality. - The Basis of their Philoso

IT

phy.- Incomplete Observation of Psychic Powers. - Ignorance of the Law of Suggestion. — Requisites for the Retention of Personality. Memory. - Consciousness. - Will. Will is Desire. The Strongest Desire of the Soul. - Egoism and Egotism of the Soul. Egoism the Normal Desire for Retention of Personality. Egotism Abnormal Self-Conceit. — The Dynamics of the Soul. The Kinetic Force of the Soul.

T has now been shown that the subjective entity possesses all the mental equipment necessary for an enjoyable existence as a purely intellectual being, without being the possessor of any of the faculties which have been designated as belonging exclusively to the objective mind.

It may be remarked, in passing, that the possession of the intuitional faculty alone would, to the disembodied soul, constitute practically the Buddhistic Nirvana, and would doubtless nearly approach the ideal of the average Yogi, who begins his search for divine illumination by severing every domestic tie, repudiating every social obligation, suppressing every human emotion, and strangling every human affection; and pursues his quest for truth by sitting on his haunches, thinking about himself, and trying to stare his umbilicus out of countenance. He seeks for "emancipation" from every human passion, and contemplates with calm indifference the prospect of the annihilation of his individuality: he longs for absorption into the Deity,

for rest in Nirvana. It is, perhaps, not strange that the average Hindu should regard absolute rest as the acme of human felicity. His climate, his social and political environment, his diet, his habits of body and of thought, the fauna of his native land, and the character of his Western proselytes, — all have a tendency to aggravate that feeling of weariness which seems to involve both body and soul, and to be congenite with the whole Oriental race.

The Hindu philosophy of a future life is based largely, if not wholly, upon an observation of that one faculty of the subjective mind to which I have just alluded; that is to say, the salient feature of the subjective phenomena of the Yogis, et id genus omne, consists in entering that hypnotic state known as "ecstasy." In that state they become "illuminated," as they term it; and they imagine that they come into direct communion with the Deity, and that they are put in possession of all knowledge, and a large share of the deific power. In short, they identify themselves with the Deity, in imagination; and they come to the conclusion that they have penetrated the secret of a future life, and are enabled to define its conditions. Now, although there are as many different sects in India as there are in Christendom, and although their views are as widely diverse regarding non-essentials, yet they all agree upon one point; namely, that the ultimate destiny of man is to be absorbed into Deity, and identified with him. In the Buddhistic philosophy this means utter annihilation of individuality. Of course the different sects hold diverse views even on this point; but this seems to be the general trend of both the Brahmanist and the Buddhist doctrine of a future life. That question, however, is unimportant for our present purpose. The significant point is that they have arrived at the general conclusion, from an observation of the phenomenon of ecstasy, that soul is ultimately absorbed into the Deity, and thereby comes into possession